Throwing-wheel for graders.



W. J. EHRSAM & L. N. MORSCHER.

THROWING WHEEL FOR GRADERS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE17,1912.

1,072,442. Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

@iam @m @titola/mcg VITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J'. EHRSAM, OF ENTERPRISE, AND LAWRENCE N. MORSCHER, OFLAWRENCE, KANSAS, ASSIGNORS T0 THEMSELVES, AS COTRUS'I'EES, OE ONE-HALFFOR SAID IVIORSCHER AND ONE-HALF FOR THE J. B. EHRSAIVI & SONSMANUFACTURING COM- PANY, OF ENTERPRISE, KANSAS, A CORPORATION 0F KANSAS.

THROWING-WHEEL FOR GRADERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 9, 1913.

Application filed June 17. 1912. Serial No. 704,246.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM J. Ennemi, a citizen of the United States,residing at Enterprise, Dickinson county, Kansas, and LAWRENCE N.MonsoHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, Douglascounty, Kansas, have invented new and useful ThrowingNVheels forGraders, of which the following is a specification.

Our present invention is an improvement on that shown in Patent No.976,350, granted November 22, 1910, to ourselves and Ernest H. Sieder,and relates to an improved form of throwing wheel or impeller for use inmachines for grading material by means of the action of a detlecting aircurrent upon projected particles having high velocities. It isespecially designed for use in an apparatus similar to that shown in thepatent to Lawrence N. Moi-scher, No. 990,157, granted April 1S, 1911.

As pointed out in the aforesaid Patent No. 976,350, itl is essential, inorder that there may be uniformity of separation, that the projection ofthe particles thrown from the wheel be definite as to direction anduniform as to quantity at any given velocity, so that they may be actedon with definiteness by the detlecting air current, also of uniformlyproportionate velocity. It is therefore desirable for the wheel toengage mechanically practically every particle thrown therefrom, so asto give it positive propulsion. This is accomplished in accordance withour present invention by providing the circumferential mouth of thethrowing wheel with a flexible lip which is biased to closed position bythe action of centrifugal force, but will yield to allow the material tobe graded to be thrown out by centrifugal force. This lip will yieldunequally for particles of different size, thus enabling the lip toyield locally for large particles while still firmly engaging smallparticles, even when these are closely neighboring.

The various novel features of our invention will appear from thedescription and drawings, and will be particularly pointed out in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an axial section through athrowing wheel embodying our invention; Fig. 2 is a section on the line22 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a front view of the concave disk.

On the shaft 10 is fixed, as by a set screw 11, a disk 12 having a face13 which is concave between the periphery and the hub let. The concaveface 13 of this disk is provided with radially extending ribs 15extending from near the outer edge of said face inward as far asdesired; in practice, it is generally found sutlicient to have themextend inward about half-way. A hollow frusto-conical member 20, withits larger end smaller in diameter than the disk 12 and near the concaveface 13 and slightly underhanging the outer edge of such face is carriedfrom the hub 1li of such disk by a ring 21 and a plurality of arms 22,the ring 21 preferably fitting in an annular groove 23 in said hub. Thisforms a. receiving chamber 24;, having` a circiunit'erential mouthbetween the disk A12 and the end ofthe cone 20. A flexible ring 25,preferably made of rubber or leather,Y is clamped between an outwardlyprojecting flange 20 on the larger end of said cone 20 and a coperatingclamping ring 27 held in place by screws 28. The ring 25 normally liesllat against the surface 13 0f the disk 12 substantially at theperiphery 14C, and is biased to such position by the action ofcentrifugal force as the shaft 10 is rotated. That is, the naturalresiliency of the flexible ring 25 tends to hold such ring against theouter edge of the surft-ace 125 and :this tendency is augmented, or thering is stifleued, by the action of centrifugal force.

Then the shaft is rot-ated and granular material is fed through thesmaller end 30 of the cone 20, it is conducted to the larger end of suchcone and against the concave surface 13 by the action of centrifugalforce, which continues to act on it, to move it radially along suchsurface 13. The ribs 15 prevent any substantial slipping between thematerial and the disk 12. As the material slides outward along the face13 it engages the flexible ring 25, which yields sufficientl to allowthe separate grains to pass throng but grips such grains against thedisk 12 with sullicient force to cause them to rotate with such diskuntil definitely thrown away therefrom. Thus the grains leave the diskwith a certain definite direction and velocity relative to the throwingwheel for a given speed of the latter for the material issues from t-hecircumferential mouth of the wheel between the ring 25 and the disk in athin annular sheet of which the various 'particles are traveling at themoment of issuance in a direction substantially tangen- 'tial to theperiphery 14. The flexible ring 25, allows particles of large size, oreven actual lumps, to go through without interfering with the action ofthe throwing wheel upon particles of smaller size, even though thelatter are quite close to the former.

7e claim as our invention:

1. An impeller comprising a rotatable disk having a concave surface witha radial compone-nt at its outer edge, a hollow coneshaped member havingits larger end near the concave face of said disk, and a flexible ringcarried by said cone-shaped member and engaging the outer edge of theconcave face of said disk.

2. An impeller comprising a rotatable disk having a concave surface witha radial component at its outer edge, a hollow conefshaped memberhaving'. its larger end near the concave face of said disk, and aflexible ring carried by said cone-shaped member Iand engaging the outeredge of the concave face of said disk, the concave face of said diskbeing provided with substantially radial ribs.

3. An impeller comprising a pair 0f rotary co-acting members forming areceiving chamber between them and having their adjacent ends slightlyspaced from each other to leave a circumferential substantially-radialperipheral opening between them at their outer edges, and a flexiblering carried by one of said members and closing said opening byoverlying the adjacent peL riphery of the other member.

il. An impeller comprising a pair of rotary co-acting members one ofwhich has a concave surface and is slightly larger than the other, saidconcave surface having a radial component at its outer edge and a ringof flexible material carried by the smaller member and lying against theouter edge of the concave surface of the larger member by the action ofcentrifugal force.

5. An impeller comprising a disk-shaped member having one face which isconcave between center and periphery with a radial component at itsperiphery, a member cooperating with said disk and smaller in diameterto form a chamber which will feed to the outer part of such concavesurface by the action of centrifugal force, and an annular member offlexible material carried by said smaller member and lying against theouter edge of said concave surface by the action of centrifugal force.

6. An impeller comprising a pair of adjacent rotary members havingoverlying, substantially radially extending peripheral, faces which soengage as to allow centrifugal force to operate on and move outward anymatter located between them where they engage, one of said members beingflexible and biased to position relatively to the other by the action ofcentrifugal force.

7. An impeller comprising a pair of adjacent rotary members havingcoperating substantially radial faces at their peripheries from betweenwhich centrifugal force will tend to throw any material suppliedthereto, one of said members being flexible and biased to positionrelatively to the other by the action of centrifugal force.

8. An impeller comprising a pair of adjacent rotary members havingcoperating substantially radial faces at their peripheries from betweenwhich centrifugal force will tend to throw any material suppliedthereto, one of said members being laterally yieldable and biased toposition relatively to the other by the action of centrifugal force.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Enterprise, Kansas,this 28 day of March, 1912.

W. J. EHRSAM.

Witnesses to the signature of William J Ehrsam:

TILLIE EURICH, E. F. MEADER.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand at Lawrence, Kansas, this14th day of February, 1912.

LAWRENCE N. MORSCHER.

Witnesses to the signature of Lawrence N. Morscher:

J. H. MITCHELL, BERTHAL. ZIMMERMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

